The fourth generation of the Pokémon franchise was revealed to the world in 2006 with the release of Pokémon Diamond and Pearl and the reception was, at best, underwhelming. Diamond and Pearl quickly became 2 of the least loved games in the series, with fans citing issues on everything from a mediocre storyline to a boring region.

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Even the Pokémon roster itself became the subject of much debate due to many of the creatures not coming available in the games until after the main game story arc was completed. However, some great creatures are available in Diamond and Pearl and some have become fan favorites over the years. Let's take a look at the strongest of the Pokémon introduced in Diamond and Pearl, based on stats.

Updated by Kirkland Fortner on April 8, 2021: As fans continue to celebrate Pokemon's 25th anniversary, players are returning to their favorite games from the past. With all of this going on, we thought it best to update this list to include the locations to find and catch these wonderful creatures. Additionally, we've added any special circumstances for catching and spawning that you need to know.

10 Empoleon and Mamoswine

With both of these creatures having a base stat total of 530, Empoleon and Mamoswine are definitely Pokémon to look out for. Empoleon is the final form of Gen 4's Water-type starter, Piplup. It is the only Water/Steel-type, (which is an absolutely phenomenal typing). Water/Steel gives Empoleon 9 resistances and an immunity. Combine that with high Special Attack and Special Defense stats, and you have a great Pokémon.

Mamoswine has excellent offensive typing in Ice/Ground, in addition to having a great Attack stat and decent Speed. Combine all of that with its fantastic design and wonderfully punny name, and you have an all-time fan favorite.

• Empoleon evolves from the Water-type starter for Diamond and Pearl, meaning you're given the option to pick it right at the beginning of the game. If you picked another starter or want more Empoleon, you need to trade members of the family in from other games.
• Wild Swinub can be found on Route 217 as a swarm encounter.

9 Infernape

Infernape is the final evolution of Sinnoh's Fire-type starter, Chimchar. With 534 as its base stat total, Infernape is an extremely offensively focused Pokémon. It has incredibly high Attack, Special Attack, and Speed stats, but unfortunately, it also has very frail defenses. Fire/Fighting is always a great offensive typing, allowing it to hit 7 different types for super effective damage. The movepool is also interesting, with Infernape being able to learn moves that are unusual for its typing, such as Earthquake and Thunder Punch.

• Infernape evolves from the Fire-type starter for Diamond and Pearl, meaning you're given the option to pick it right at the beginning of the game. If you picked another starter or want more Infernape, you need to trade members of the family in from other games.

8 Magnezone, Rhyperior, Tangrowth, and Porygon-Z

This quartet is made up of new evolutions of older Pokémon which all share the same base stat total of 535. Magnezone has an incredible typing in Electric/Steel, giving it a massive 10 resistances and an immunity. Rhyperior is a physical beast, with its HP, Attack, and Defense all being ridiculously high. Tangrowth has beautiful stats in general, with only its Special Defense and Speed being subpar.

Porygon-Z is the most interesting of the bunch, though. It's not the expected evolution of Porygon2 with better stats. It essentially is Porygon2 with rearranged stats. This allows the 2 evolutions to coexist, something very rarely seen.

• Wild Magnemite can be found at the Fuego Ironworks as a swarm encounter.
• Wild Rhyhorn/Rhydon can be found on Route 227, 228, or Stark Mountain respectively.
• Tangela can only be obtained by transferring it from a Gen 3 game.
• Wild Porygon are found in the Trophy Garden as a special encounter.

7 Electivire and Magmortar

Electivire and Magmortar are new evolutions of Gen 1's Electabuzz and Magmar, seemingly created to give them more individuality in battle, as they have extremely similar stats when not fully evolved.

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Both have a shared base stat total of 540, with Electivire being more physically focused and Magmortar being more Special stat focused. Other than that, the 2 boast having good HP and Speed, as well as some interesting type coverage options.

• Wild Elekid can be found on Route 205 or the Valley Windworks with a copy of FireRed inserted into the bottom of your DS.
• Wild Magby can be found on Route 227 and Stark Mountain with a copy of LeafGreen inserted into the bottom of your DS.

6 Togekiss

Gen 4 really liked its new evolutions, huh? Togekiss is the final evolution of the Togepi line and has a base stat total of 545. There is not enough good to really say about Togekiss. The stats are incredible, with only the Attack stat being underwhelming out of the whole set. Serene Grace is an excellent ability, the typing is solid, and the movepool is beyond diverse. Togekiss is a great Pokémon no matter how you look at it.

• Wild Togepi can be found on Route 230 as a swarm encounter.

5 The Lake Guardians

This trio of Pokémon plays a very important role in the main storyline of Gen 4, so you should be familiar with them. All 3 of them have pure Psychic typing and share a base stat total of 580, with the points being distributed differently among them. Uxie is the defensive one of the group, Mesprit is the balanced one, and Azelf is offensively focused.

• Uxie and Azelf can be found at their respective lakes after facing Dialga/Palkia. Mesprit is a roaming legendary.

4 Garchomp, Heatran, Cresselia, Manaphy, Darkrai, and Shaymin

This amazing 6-way tie consists of 4 actual Legendary Pokémon and a Pseudo-Legendary Pokémon, all having 600 points in their base stat totals. Garchomp is a Ground/Dragon-type with good stats all around, Heatran has an amazing type combination and Special Attack, Cresselia is a pure Psychic-type with phenomenal defenses and HP, Darkrai is a special attacking beast in every sense, and Manaphy and Shaymin are both jack of all trades kind of Pokémon for the Water and Grass types respectively.

• Wild Gible can be found at the Wayward Cave after obtaining the ability to use Strength outside of battle.
• Cresselia becomes a roaming Legendary after first meeting it on Fullmoon Island.
• Heatran can be found at the end of Stark Mountain after returning the Magma Stone.
• Manaphy can only be obtained by transferring its egg from Pokémon Ranger.

3 Regigigas

Regigigas is the leader of the Legendary Titan Trio from Gen 3 and has a base stat total of 670. Regigigas is an unfortunate Pokémon, it has a great type of pure Normal, downright amazing stats, and a very diverse learnset.

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The issue with it comes from its ability Slow Start, halving its Attack and Speed stats for the first 5 turns of battle. If you can unshackle it from its ability, then you have some gold in your hands, but it does have a huge handicap to surmount.

• Regigigas can be obtained by interacting with it at the Snowpoint Temple with the other Legendary Titans (Regirock, Regice, and Registeel) in your party, which all need to be transferred from a Gen 3 game.

2 The Creation Trio

Here we have all of the mascot Legendary Pokémon for Gen 4, Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina. All with a base stat total of 680, this trio of dragons are all-powerful in their own ways. Dialga and Palkia both have great type combinations in Steel/Dragon and Water/Dragon, with stats that enable them to be mixed attackers. Giratina comes in 2 different forms that alter its stats to be either offensively or defensively focused, with it being part Ghost to give it 2 immunities.

• Both Dialga and Palkia are required encounters throughout their respective game's stories.
• Giratina can be found at the end of Turnback Cave.

1 Arceus

Here it is, what is essentially the ultimate Pokémon. Arceus is the pinnacle jack of all trades Pokémon, having 120 points in every stat adding up to a total of 720. It defaults to being pure Normal, but if you give it a plate-held item of a specific type, it will become whatever type the plate advertises. On top of all of this, its signature move Judgement also matches whatever type Arceus is, meaning it will always have a STAB move.

• It is impossible to obtain Arceus without the use of cheating, but the reasoning for why is very interesting. The item that was meant to make Arceus accessible, the Azure Flute, was never released. According to one of Game Freak's founding members, Junichi Masuda, the development team thought the Azure Flute would be "too confusing for players to use", so they decided not to release it.

NEXT: 10 Strongest Pokémon In The Ruby & Sapphire Games (Based On Stats)